# The &kjumpingcube; Handbook

## Introduction

### Gametype:

Strategy, Dice

### Number of possible players:

Two

&kjumpingcube; is a simple tactical game. You can play it against the computer or a friend. The playing area consists of squares containing points. When the game starts each square has only one point, and no owner. Players move by clicking on either a vacant square or one of their own squares, thus increasing the square’s point value by one. When a square’s value reaches a maximum, the excess points are distributed around the neighboring squares, taking over ownership of them. The winner is the player who ends up owning all the squares.

## How to Play

### Objective:

Take over all the squares on the game board.

&kjumpingcube; loads directly into game mode, so you can start playing right away.

You move by clicking on a vacant square or one you already own. If you click on a vacant square, you gain ownership over it and the square’s color changes to your playing color. Each time you click on a square, the value of the square increases by one. If the square's value reaches a maximum, its points are distributed among the square’s immediate neighbors (the points jump around). If a neighboring square happens to be owned by the other player, it gets taken over, together with all of its points, and changes to your playing color.

### Example:

If a square in the centre reaches five points, four of its points go to its four neighbors leaving the source square with one point. It is possible for a cascade of automatic moves to occur if the neighboring squares also reach a maximum due to the distribution of points.

### Note:

Large parts of the playing area can change hands very rapidly.

The winner is the player who ends up owning all the squares on the board.

## Game Rules, Strategies and Tips

### Rules

1. A move consists of clicking on a square that does not belong to your opponent.

2. The move increases the points in the square by one.

3. At the start of the game, each square has one point, is painted in a neutral color and has no owner.

4. Each player has a color to mark the ownership of squares.

5. By clicking a square that has no owner, the player becomes the owner of that square and it changes its color to the player's color. Simultaneously the square’s value is increased by one.

6. If a square has more points than it has neighbors, one point jumps to each of the neighbors, leaving only one point in the original square.

7. During such a move, all the neighboring squares become owned by the player who moved and so do all of their points, even if the neighbors were neutral or owned by the other player before.

8. Neighbors are the squares above, below, left and right, but not any diagonally located squares. Corner squares have only two neighbors, while side squares have three, and centre squares have four neighbors.

9. If a move leaves a neighbor with a maximum number of points, the move continues automatically to the neighbor's neighbors and so on, in a cascade. A large number of squares can change ownership during such a move.

10. The winner is the player who ends up owning all the squares.

11. You can use Settings Configure &kjumpingcube;... to select colors, computer player, skill level and board size.

### Strategies and Tips

- Try to avoid increasing a square when your opponent owns a neighboring square that can reach its maximum before your square does.

- Try to get control of the corner squares first, then the side squares. You need fewer moves to make them reach a maximum.

- Try not to play too close to your opponent, especially during the opening moves. Drop back a square or two or pick a square on the diagonal from your opponent.

- Keep an eye out for long chains of squares that are almost at their maximum. If they are yours, you must guard them against cascading moves. If they are your opponent's, they can become ripe for capture by a cascading move, just as soon as they extend close enough to your territory.

## Interface Overview

### The Game Menu

&Ctrl;N Game New

- Start a new game.

&Ctrl;O Game Load...

- Open a previously saved game.

&Ctrl;S Game Save

- Save the current game.

Game Save As...

- Save the current game with a different name.

&Esc; Game Stop

- Stop the computer opponent's calculation of its next move. The computer will then make the best move it has found up to the moment you told it to stop.

&Ctrl;Q Game Quit

- Quits &kjumpingcube;.

### The Move Menu

&Ctrl;Z Move Undo

- Undo the last move you made. Only one move, the very last one, can be undone in this game.

H Move Hint

- Get a hint as to the best move to make next.

### The Settings Menu

Settings Show Toolbar

- Toggle the display of the toolbar.

Settings Show Statusbar

- Toggle the display of the status bar.

Settings Configure Shortcuts...

- Open a dialog where you can configure the shortcut keys for &kjumpingcube;

Settings Configure Toolbars...

- Open a dialog where you can configure the toolbar actions for &kjumpingcube;

Settings Configure &kjumpingcube;...

- Open a game configuration dialog. See Game Configuration section for more details.

### The Help Menu

&help.menu.documentation;

### The &kjumpingcube; Toolbar

New

- Starts a new game

Save

- Save the current game.

Stop

- Stop the computer opponent's calculation of its next move. The computer will then make the best move it has found up to the moment you told it to stop.

Hint

- Get a hint as to the best move to make next.

Undo

- Undo the last move you made.

## Frequently asked questions

I want to change the way this game looks. Can I?

Currently you can only change the player's colors, but not the game theme. To change the player's colors use the Game Configuration dialog.

Can I use the keyboard to play the game?

No. &kjumpingcube; cannot be played using the keyboard.

Where are the high scores?

&kjumpingcube; does not have such a feature.

## Game Configuration

Configuration dialog.

To open the configuration dialog use the menubar option: Settings Configure &kjumpingcube;...

Computer Skill

- Lets you choose your playing skill from a slider. This decides how clever the computer opponent will be.

  You can choose from Beginner, Average or Expert.

Board Size

- Lets you choose the play area size.

  Use the slider to select a value between 5x5 squares and 10x10 squares.

Computer Plays

- Sets the computer opponent to be Player 1, Player 2 or both. Normally you would set the computer to play one player and you would play the other. Player 1 always starts first.

Players' Colors

- Choose a color for each player and for the neutral squares.

## Credits and License

&kjumpingcube; is Copyright 1998, 1999 &Matthias.Kiefer; &Matthias.Kiefer.mail;

&kjumpingcube; was inspired by a game that came out for the Commodore 64 and other early home computers. Unfortunately the original author's name is unknown.

In 2007, Ian Wadham took over maintenance of &kjumpingcube; for &kde; 4 and Eugene Trounev painted the first SVG theme.

Documentation Copyright 1999 &Matthias.Kiefer; &Matthias.Kiefer.mail;

Documentation updated for &kde; 2 and 3 by &Lauri.Watts; &Lauri.Watts.mail;

&underFDL; &underGPL;

## Installation

&install.intro.documentation;

### Compilation and Installation

&install.compile.documentation;
&documentation.index;